Lord Triesman: On 11 October 2004, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Jack Straw) announced in a Written Ministerial Statement (Official Report, col. WS 3) that upon receipt of an application to export arms or related materiel to an end user not explicitly exempt from the embargo, the Government will seek certification on a case-by-case basis from the government of Iraq or the multinational force. The certification is to ensure that the proposed export is required by the government of Iraq or the multinational force to serve the purposes of Resolution 1546 and is therefore exempted from the embargo. A certification process has been established with the government of Iraq.
	Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently made four exceptions to this procedure and issued licences in advance of receipt of certification from the government of Iraq. All licences were for equipment to be used by a private security company to protect election monitors and ballot boxes for the Iraqi referendum. Equipment concerned included: armoured vehicles, body armour, military helmets, smoke grenades, mini signal flares, stun grenades and six machineguns. The Government received certification for the licences after they were issued.

Lord Warner: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Two public consultations were carried out earlier this year on the future of independent prescribing by nurses and on the introduction of independent prescribing by pharmacists. The responses were overwhelmingly in favour of allowing appropriately qualified nurses and pharmacists to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition. As a result, the Committee on Safety of Medicines has recommended to me that appropriately qualified nurses should be able to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition within their professional competence, with the exception of controlled drugs. It has also recommended to me that a new category of non-medical prescriber—pharmacist independent prescribers—be introduced. They will have similar powers. I am announcing today that I am accepting these recommendations and that regulations will be amended to enable this from spring 2006.
	We will be working with the relevant bodies across the United Kingdom—the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland and the Nursing and Midwifery Council—to consider the training implications for their members who wish to take up these responsibilities.
	This is very good news for patients who will benefit from quicker and more accessible service. It also demonstrates our confidence in nurses and pharmacists, and our wish to use their skills and professionalism to the full.
	Patient safety remains paramount and strong safeguards are currently in place to regulate existing prescribing activity by nurses and pharmacists. We will work with professionals and the regulatory bodies to look at what, if any, additional measures are needed to ensure the right safeguards are in place. These extra prescribing flexibilities will only be available to nurses and pharmacists who have undertaken specific training, approved by the relevant professional and regulatory bodies. Once trained, individuals will be required to keep their skills up to date. Nurse and pharmacist prescribers will need to work within their employers' clinical governance frameworks and they will be accountable to both their employers and their regulatory bodies for their actions.